Posted by bruce in CO on Monday, March 29, 2004 at 8:59PM :
A while back, someone explained that the M101 military generator trailer frames were constructed so that they folded for storage and transport purposes and that this pivot point in the frame could be used to create a dumping trailer. I have one of these trailers and looked it over today. Please help me figure this out:
On the top side of each angled tongue rail, there are bolted mounts that attach the front edge of the bed deck to the tongue rails. Removing these bolts would allow the bed deck to lift up off of the frame. Further back but still in front of the axle, the tongue rails attach to the trailer frame with a bracket on each side having two bolts. Removing one bolt on each side, and loosening the second bolt on each side would create the pivot point from which the bed deck could pivot up off of the tongue rails.
By setting the pivot point so that its free, and replacing the front bolts with clevis pins, you could pin down the front in order to load and tow the trailer.
I'm confused and can't quite picture the physics of the dumping operation. When you want to dump, would you remove the clevis pins, apply the trailer parking brakes and/or chock the tires on the rear side, then slowly back up your truck making the trailer fold up and dump the load? Am I missing something about how this would work? Has anyone had a positively impressive experience using this system for loads of grave,dirt, or firewood? Would there be an obvious way to incorporate a lighter weight 12V hydraulic dump trailer lift to assist this operation without major remodifications to the trailer frame? I'd be curious as to others experiences. This would be used on private property and safety of towing the compromised trailer frame at road speeds is not an issue. Thanx, Bruce
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